Portis named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — University of Arkansas sophomore Bobby Portis has been named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25. The Los Angeles Athletic Club sponsors the award named after long-time UCLA coach John Wooden is presented to the player selected as player of the year. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced during the NCAA Tournament. Portis currently leads the Southeastern Conference in scoring at 18 points per game.

Wonder Boys picked 2nd in GAC preseasonLooking to defend its first Great American Conference championship, the Arkansas Tech baseball team was picked to finish second in 2015 by the league’s coaches in the conference preseason poll. Coach Dave Dawson’s club earned 93 points and four first-place votes in the poll, coming in just behind defending GAC tournament champ Southern Arkansas, which received 97 points and the other seven first-place votes. The Wonder Boys return 18 players f...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Tennessee hangs on for 74-69 victory over No. 19 ArkansasKNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Josh Richardson scored 20 points and Tennessee withstood a furious Arkansas comeback to hang on for a 74-69 victory over the 19th-ranked Razorbacks on Tuesday night. After trailing by 13 points with under four minutes left, Arkansas (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) cut the margin to three and had a chance to tie the game when Anton Beard was fouled by Kevin Punter while attempting a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaini...

Golden Suns enter top 10With a 12-1 start and a perfect 7-0 mark in Great American Conference play, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team has climbed as high as No. 9 in the top-25 as both the coaches’ and media polls were released Tuesday. After wins at Northwestern Oklahoma and Southern Nazarene, the Golden Suns climbed eight spots from No. 17 to No. 9 in the media poll, and moved up three spots in the coaches’ poll from No. 18 to No. 15. Arkansas Tech move...

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Paul Smith, Director of Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Ohio State wins 1st playoff-era title, beating Oregon 42-20 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ohio State can add the newest version of the national championship trophy to a case that already has a bunch of the old ones. The Buckeyes' third-stringer matched Oregon's Heisman winner as Cardale Jones led Ohio State past Marcus Mariota and the Ducks 42-20 in the first College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night at the $1.2 billion home of the Dallas Cowboys. Behind their bullish backup quarterbac...

AP Source: Arkansas' Chaney leaving for PittsburghFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Jim Chaney is leaving Arkansas just as the program appears to have returned to Southeastern Conference relevance. The offensive coordinator, known for his dynamic passing offenses at schools such as Purdue and Tennessee, has left the Razorbacks to accept the same position at Pittsburgh, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Sunday night. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because...

Ohio State vs. Oregon championship previewFourth-seeded Ohio State (13-1) vs. second-seeded Oregon (13-1) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, 8:30 ET (ESPN) Line: Oregon by 6. Series record: Ohio State 8-0. WHAT'S AT STAKE The first College Football Playoff national championship. The Buckeyes come into the game with the nation's longest winning streak at 12 games. The Ducks have won nine straight. KEY MATCHUP Oregon defensive front seven against Ohio State's running game. Much has be...

Tech baseball ranked No.17 in preseason pollFresh off one of the best years in program history, the Arkansas Tech baseball team received a nod in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll just weeks before the 2015 season kicks off. Coach Dave Dawson’s Wonder Boys come in at No. 17 in the publication’s rankings, looking to follow up on the squad’s first trip to the NCAA tournament and school records in wins and conference wins. Tech returns 18 players from last year’s Great American Conferen...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Wonder Boys unable to ride out stormBETHANY, Okla. – Nick Wayman turned in a 12-point effort, while Clarence Willard scored 11 points from the bench, but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (8-7, 4-3 Great American Conference) were unable to get into an offensive rhythm, falling 70-62 to Southern Nazarene (8-6, 4-4 GAC) on Saturday. The two offenses struggled to gain a footing through the first fifteen minutes of the contest, with both teams shooting below 30 percent f...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Portis scores 32, Arkansas beats Vanderbilt 82-70FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Bobby Portis is rarely one to talk at extended length about his personal success on the basketball court. The Arkansas sophomore is perfectly comfortable, however, letting his growing list of achievements make his case as one of the Southeastern Conference's best. Portis continued his emergence on the national stage with a season-high 32 points and the No. 23 Razorbacks won their seventh in a row, beating Vanderbilt 82-70 o...

Arkansas' Smith signs new 3-year contract; others sign dealsFAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith has signed a three-year contract, one of six Razorbacks assistant coaches to agree to new contracts following the school's first winning season in three years. Smith, who helped Arkansas (7-6) improve from 76th to 10th nationally in total defense this season, will receive $750,000 next season, with raises of $50,000 in each of the following two seasons. The former Rutgers and Tampa ...

Golden Suns throttle SNUArkansas Tech University turned up the defensive pressure and extended its women’s basketball winning streak on Saturday afternoon. The nationally 18th-ranked Golden Suns forced Southern Nazarene University into 27 turnovers and routed the Crimson Storm 87-44 at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla. It was the fourth consecutive win for Arkansas Tech (12-1 overall, 7-0 Great American Conference), which improved to 5-0 on the road in 2014-15. Tec...

Wonder Boys shoot past RangersALVA, Okla. – D.J. Jethroe turned in a 20-point, eight-rebound performance, Mike Balogun added 14 points, while Nick Wayman added 10 as the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys (8-6, 4-2 Great American Conference) took advantage of timely shooting in a 76-58 win over Northwestern Oklahoma (2-11, 1-5 GAC) on Thursday. Defense led the way in the opening minutes of the game, with the Rangers inching to a 5-4 lead with 13:21 to play in the contest. However, ...

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Paul Smith, Director of Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas Tech basketball teams head to Sooner StateAfter playing four of its first five Great American Conference basketball doubleheaders of the 2014-15 season at home, Arkansas Tech University will take its show on the road this weekend. The Golden Suns and the Wonder Boys will open their trip to the Sooner State by taking on Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva on Thursday. They will visit Bethany for a twin bill against Southern Nazarene University at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Bo...

No. 23 Arkansas rallies to edge Georgia, 79-75 ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A road win was the perfect way for Arkansas to open its Southeastern Conference schedule and for coach Mike Anderson to celebrate a contract extension. Bobby Portis scored 21 points, Michael Qualls added 17 and No. 23 Arkansas rallied from a first-half deficit of 13 points to beat Georgia 79-75 on Tuesday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for each team. The Razorbacks are 71-41 under Anderson, including 60-6 at Bud...

Anderson signs extension at Arkansas through 2020 FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Mike Anderson wanted nothing more than to return home when he left Missouri for Arkansas in 2011. He is no hurry to leave. The fourth-year coach signed a two-year contract extension Tuesday through the 2019-20 season. The former Razorbacks assistant was originally signed to a seven-year contract. "This is the kind of commitment that confirms my decision to be the head coach at the University of Arkansas and return to a plac...

Arkansas-Little Rock names Chasse Conque athletic director LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has named former administrator Chasse Conque as its new athletic director. UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson announced the selection of Conque on Monday. Conque spent four years as director of development at UALR before leaving in 2011 for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he is senior director of development. UALR says Conque was chosen from among three finalists tha...

Anderson signs extension at Arkansas through 2020FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Mike Anderson wanted nothing more than to return home when he left Missouri for Arkansas in 2011. He is no hurry to leave. The fourth-year coach signed a two-year contract extension Tuesday through the 2019-20 season. The former Razorbacks assistant was originally signed to a seven-year contract. "This is the kind of commitment that confirms my decision to be the head coach at the University of Arkansas and return to ...

Toledo tops Arkansas State 63-44 at GoDaddy BowlMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Sophomore Kareem Hunt is already one of the most accomplished running backs in Toledo history. The five seniors blocking for him were intent on ending their college careers with a victory. Combine the two and the Rockets were a running juggernaut that Arkansas State simply couldn't stop. Hunt ran for a bowl-record 271 yards and five touchdowns to lead Toledo over Arkansas State 63-44 on Sunday night. He averaged 8.5 yards p...